If you have been following this blog for sometime, you will know that music review means it’s time for Rohit to take over. So over to him. But before you read the review, you can check out all the songs here.
Also, click here to read our earlier post in which lyricist Varun Grover introduced the two hit songs of the album – jiya ho Bihar ke lala and I am a hunter, the foot-tapping and fun song, which i feel, is dying to have a music video. Mr Kashyap, do it. The song has great potential. You are sitting on a goldmine. Explore it!
The post also has lyrics of six songs – Jiya ho Bihar ke lala, I am a hunter, Ek bagal, Keh ke loonga, O Womania and Humne ke chhori ke.
Back to the music review.
Music – Sneha Khanwalkar
Lyrics – Varun Grover, Piyush Mishra
इतना दिन से इन्तेज़ार था. पूरा उत्तर प्रदेश और बिहार में लोग बाग कोई गाना नहीं सुन रहे थे. चलो ज़रा देखें ससुरा इन्तेज़ार के लायक था या नहीं?
1. Jiya ho Bihar – The song starts with faint ‘thaaps’ as if a traditional song but soon is joined by electric guitars and then the techno arrangement leads us to the very desi Manoj Tiwari. The song makes no bones, thanks to excellent Manoj Tiwari and some real catchy lyrics (Tani Taan kheech ke taansen kehlawo rey bhaiyya, for example). The backup vocals are excellent. Somewhere in the background you will hear shehnai as well. Yes. The marriage of techno sound with Manoj Tiwari is just brilliant. There is a constant ‘bhaiyya bhaiyya’ in the background! Just too good a touch!
There is always that song from which you associate a movie, This one will be the image of Gangs of Wasseypur).
If interested, you can get the lyrics here.
2. I am a hunter – (पापी लोग का नाम है – वेदेश सोकू, मुन्ना ओर रजनीश) The song starts with a ‘Heyllllo’(and TRUST ME!, you will repeat the ‘heylllo’ to hear if it is actually said the way it is said) and then something that we all have done while growing up! (Listen and tell me if you can find it, not telling it here). Special mention must be made for Sneha. This is a fun song and trust me, the song has 2 funny moments per second. Be it the laughter in the background, be it the interplay between vocals along with the constant Caribbean beats the song has ‘fun’ written all over it. Yes, it’s a tad naughty. Still, the words like ‘bhokali’ will ensure that this is played by guys (And girls, may be!) in bonfires. Yes. Up till now Patti rap was THE song that got guys (and sometimes girls together) in a gathering. Now, that place belongs, rightfully to ‘I am a hunter’. Best.Bakchod.Song.Ever.
You can check out the lyrics of the song here.
3. O Womaniya Live (Performed by – Khushboo Raj, Rekha Jha ओर उनकी सहेलिया) Singers start this song in a way that will remind the people who have grown up in north India, those ‘sangeet’ settings that happen during marriages wherein the ‘ladies’ (pronounced as – lay-deej) sing and poke fun at the new bride or may be her ‘in laws’ or may be her ‘bridegroom’. The words are pure ‘North’ and are laced with lot of fun (and naughty-ness). People who will have tough time trying to find the meaning of the songs will get the ‘fun quotient’ when the backup vocal singers will go ‘o o o ho ho ho’ Very naughty! The music setting is very ‘drawing room’ like and even when backup singers giggle you get the feel that they are sharing a joke! Singing is just incidental to the setting. Kudos Sneha! Kudos for reading this very rare, Very, very rare genre. The words of this song in particular have a flavor of north. Big time. Varun Grover, take a bow! Also the singer will remind you of that one character in such family settings who is the ‘leader’ and repeats certain words in order to poke fun at the bride, डबल अर्थ wala fun. (case in context – Patna and satna. ‘Satna’ means when someone sits uncomfortably close to someone else)
4. Keh ke loonga – Night. That’s what the ‘itchy’ start of this song reminds you of. Sneha gets behind the microphone and gets on with it. Accompanied by Amit Trivedi, the ‘graveyard’ feeling of the song gets scarier when the intentions are reflected in words. No matter where you are, I will dig you up and ‘teri keh ke loonga’. It has a very ‘Ghar mein ghus ke maroonga’ feel. Still, it’s not loud. The song just stares at you with the coldness of a dead body. We need Sneha Khanwalkar to sing more. Much more. Much, much more. She is THAT good in the song. Composed by Piyush Mishra and arranged by Sneha. Amit Trivedi is in his usual brilliant self! The resonating sound of howling might not be liked by all. Dark. Scary. This sums up the song.
5. Bhoos ke dher mein – Manish J. Tipu and Bhupesh start the song and will actually lead you into believing that it’s a sad song. Suddenly, an ‘all male’ group of backup singers (accompanied by harmonium and brass band), get into your ears shouting ‘Na milihey’ (you shall not get). This song has a message. More like the songs that you associate with the wanderers who gives out message about life in their songs. The difference? There are way too many singers (and at times a barking dog in the background if I heard it right!). Situational song. Has a very ‘chadhta suraj dheerey dheerey dhalta hai dhal jayega’ (A qawwali-sque song by Aziz Naza, very popular up North). Won’t be a chartbuster. May be that’s exactly what is needed. Let’s see.
6. Ek Bagal – Flute and Sitar talk between themselves and put you at ease immediately and then the strong bass creates a perfect platform for Piyush Mishra (PM) to start what is probably the most powerful song (in terms of effect that it will leave on you) of the film. The excellent use of electric flute deserves a repeat mention. It is THAT good. There is no doubt that this song is penned by PM himself and composed by him as well. The song has a little ‘jis raat sheher mein khoon ki baarish aayi thee’ feel in between. I suspect this song will find a place in the second part of the film as well. Minimalistic ‘arranged’ music. Authentic is the word. 2 thumbs up!
For lyrics, click here.
7. Bhaiyya – This track, performed by the musahars of Sundapur, is another avtaar of a folk song but is music heavy. My guess, this is a background song again. It ends too soon. Didn’t touch me. May be you will like it.
8. Tain Tain – A good harmonium along with at least 10 other sounds suddenly start this song. Then it all settles down. The beat continues and so does a siren! And then Sneha Khanwalkar goes ‘tey tey tey’. Before you figure out what’s happening, the brass band arrests your attention! Ok, too much happening at the same time! This has to be a background sound. This track is just a mix of a lot of sounds (whistles, vocal ‘ta ta ta chu chu ley ley lu li’ and so much more!). Remember the track ‘dol dol’ from ‘Yuva’? This track, in principal is the same, BUT is very DESI. This track grow on you and somehow satisfies the ‘constant casio synthesizer beats wali bhookh’ in me.
9. Suna kar ke Gharwa – performed by Sujeet (From Gaya ओर उनके दोस्त भाई लोग). The song uses a slow tabla and ‘manjeera’. Very folk. But too short. सब लोगों को नही समझ आएगा. It has a sound of a ‘folk singer’ closing his eyes as he connects with self and the powers that be via his singing.
10. Aey Jawanon – Yes, some shayari. Some ‘UP-Bihar’ style shayari about how people are selfish. The stop-and-go and stop-and-run music arrangement completely reminds a ‘northie’ like me of the roadside ‘nautanki’ music. To you, it might remind of ‘pintya gela’ (from shaitaan) in essence, because the instruments used are completely different but the linear tune is somewhat ‘pintya gela’ like.
11. Womaniya (Remix) – Starts exactly like the ‘live’ version but the bass and trance effects soon take over. Something that I haven’t heard ever. Something Desi…real wala desi mixed with ‘mehengai dayan’ like remix (from Peepli Live). The naughty feel of the song is retained. At times I felt some excessive instruments were used but I won’t be surprised if this is played in pubs and people go ‘OMG OMG’! There is a brief romantic exchange of words between shehnai and electric guitar…Just too damn good! मुहझौंसा and what not! This remix grew on me!
The pronunciation of ‘womaniya’ as ऊमनिया is just too adorable (in both the versions)
12. Mann Mauji – Probably one of the best romantic songs this year. Iktaara, algoza and so many other beautiful sounds along with the singer Usari Banerjee is a touch of pure genius. Even the singing style has a touch of vintage in it! ‘Khula hai bajuband phata hai kaaj sambhal ke chalna hoga’. Composed and penned by Piyush Mishra, arranged excellently by Sneha, this song has a sweet vintage feel. Hear it. The ‘secondary vocal’ (at times algoza, at times violin) that constantly accompanies the singer is so so so vintage. Brings back the days of कुएँ के किनारे गाना और नाचना.
13. Loonga loonga (Remix) – The roadside shayari about life (Along with constant beats and ‘loonga loonga’ in the background) starts the song. A faint ‘siren’ (The one that you associate with IPL when a bowler bowls a No-ball and free hit is about to be executed. This is a short version and thankfully so, because the music arrangement and the overall sound of this song is in contrast to the theme of the album. Passable.
14. Humni ki chhoree ke – (Sung by Deepak Kumar – मुजफ्फरपुर वाले) – With just the harmonium and very पक्का ओर रिसा हुआ गला the singer gives us a flavor of a very, very touching song. It’s a folk bhojpuri song and many a singers have sung it already. We could come across Pawan Singh and few others (Check them out on youtube) but this version, with minimalistic music arrangement, has everything that will make you very sad, lump in throat stuff. Even if you don’t understand the meaning of it. Magic of good music, isn’t it? Highly recommended!
Overall a fantastic album! The music stays true to the overalls of the film. Even though 2 remixes are included (to make the album appeal to the ‘non small town’ पब्लिक) फिर भी, This will go down as a फसाद मचाने वाला album by Sneha Khanwalkar and Piyush Mishra. Comparisons will be made with the OST of Omkara, Dev D, Gulaal and so on, but this album will stand it’s ground. Quite easily.
The backdrop is more or less same (in terms of geography), so the sound influences could overlap. Still, inclusion of some pure folk songs of the region is a superb idea and makes the album more relatable. The effort in terms of penning the right lyrics (Piyush Mishra, Varun Grover and Vikas (for hunter – english lyrics), arranging and composing music (Piyush Mishra and Sneha Khanwalkar), singers and the sheer research about it all is praiseworthy.
Rough around edges, raw and melodious in equal measure, here is an unputdownable power album that deserves a listen.
In the days of ch**** Studio (इंडिया) and all those wannabe ‘EXPERIMENTAL page 3 types’, here is an album that gives you a sound and taste of what the sound of those places is like. Those places are called ‘Chowk’ in small towns – an open market area in a city at the junction of two roads.
Chowk Studio. Anyone?
वूफेर फाड़ दिया भैय्या!
My Picks – Entire album.
माने की पूरा एल्बमवा सुनियेगा एक बार. चीन जायेंगे आप, की हम का कह रहे हैं.
(PS – You can order the album on Flipkart also. click here.)
The best Soundtrack in recent times.
Arey faadu lyrics,todu music & excellent singing. 1st listening main toh feel aa gayi.
Quite a few songs reminded me of gulaal.
Oh rohwit,
you have taken such pain to write a detailed review like this ,noticing the sounds and patterns,lyrics and infulences.kudos for that.as your other reviews this is also straight from the heart.
You have mentioned almost all good things about the album,
but sneha deserves a special blog post on her distinct style.the guts to explore,
her sound pallette is like no other,she dares to put some not so pleasing sounds to good effect.
disturbing folk techno mashups is her forte and she makes the most out of it.
it takes balls from the director to to trust in the vision of putting 14 songs in a movie of this genre and scale.
anurag kashyap seems to have made a mainstream film ,but the music direction is avant garde.
this was what i liked about the album.somethings pinched but i’ll give the album more time to judge them.
great read.
Experimentally Tain Tain To To is pure GENIUS..Listen to it bring back memories of the whole 80’s 90’s pop culture sounds, stupid movie laughter tracks,doordarshan evening music shows, she is basically singing all the common “hooks” of the 90s bolly and regional north indian music. This song I think definitely will be in Part 2. Hunter felt a little gimmicky, Bihar ke lala to Tiwari hai is gaane mein..I wish “Soona kar ke” was longer . the most raw and closest to what sneha did with Rajdulari in OLLO.. Ladki hadde zyada talented hai be.. These guys have really tried to go back in time along with capturing the kvlt Bihar..
I dont quite agree with this review, this music has the substance never heard before but most of these songs are deeply related to the movie & hence cannot be tolerated standalone only blends in when watched with the movie. That said, might screw me up with what i just above after that.
(Let me wait till the album grows on you…partly sure it will) 🙂
‘cannot be tolerated standalone’..don’t talk bullsh*t plz…..
Fulltoos phun hai bhaiya ! Aur jaun Nakhlau ke bhaiya upar review likhen hain unka liye tani jor se taali bajawa ho- “Jiya ho Nakhlau ke bhaiya !!”Ee album ke phiniss hone tak poora mind Fress ho jata hai !!
Ye Kashyap baba ne bola tha ki Sharda Sinha ka gaana hai.. Mujhe kahin sunai nahi diya.. hamne bhi abhi flipkart se mp3 khareeda hai..
Sir, wo part 2 mein hai gaana. 🙂
kya part 2 ka gaana bhi release ho gaya hai :O
@rohwit The barking dog thing in bhoos ke dher mein sounded as sex moan for me.
Actually the barking and the moaning sounds both of them are a part of the song Bhoos Ke Dher Me.
ahahah not a sex moan but yea dog and men both….quite similar no? 🙂
These are the songs of only part one. GoW 2 has Sharda Sinha’s song in it. Keh Ke Loonga is composed by Sneha and written by Piyush Mishra.
My mistake. I told snobu otherwise 😦
Ek bagal – song of the year .
Yes Its one of the best album and from 2012 first till date the best album and its anurag’s marks that he always gave expermantal music …….best of best…..
Haven’t read a review as biased as this one !! Yes, I can understand your love for cinema and respect for Mr. Kashyap but the OST of the album surely is not all positives. Definitely there are certain tracks that cut the ice – Jiya Tu, The Hunter Song, Keh Ke Loonga but apart from that the remaining songs fail to cut the ice. Probably the makers have tried to stay true to the soul of the movie but overall the album turns out to be as experimental as Sneha’s “Sound Tripping”.
Overall the album had the scope to be the item album of the year (also Mr. Kashyap going all guns blazing to position the flick as a commercial outing). In the end, it appeals in bits and pieces.
Thats the reason O am not allowed to write much you know. I am biased. Thats also the reason why i cant be in writing profession. Biased 🙂
Had Sneah not done the sound tripping outing I wonder what you would have said then? Also, she did go to west indies to collect the sound of Bihar! Blasphemous no? Well to me the album is great and thats what good music generally does to me.
Here is another trivia – piyush mishra has also composed songs. 🙂 trivia, because as far as i know, piyush sir wasnt present in sound tripping.
🙂
Bhaiyaa maar hi daala reply se 😉 | Ek Dam (Z)Jabardast rebhiu hai..
in the time, where most of the singer don’t know how to pronounce even a word properly, believe me, this album is ray of hope. How can you use ‘item album of the year’ word for these song ?? :O
Haven’t read a review as biased as this one !! Yes, I can understand your love for cinema and respect for Mr. Kashyap but the OST of the album surely is not all positives. Definitely there are certain tracks that cut the ice – Jiya Tu, The Hunter Song, Keh Ke Loonga but apart from that the remaining songs fail to cut the ice. Probably the makers have tried to stay true to the soul of the movie but overall the album turns out to be as experimental as Sneha’s “Sound Tripping”.
Overall the album had the scope to be the item album of the year (also Mr. Kashyap going all guns blazing to position the flick as a commercial outing). In the end, it appeals in bits and pieces.
[…] vedesh sokoo, videsh sokoo Leave a comment ये पोस्ट सबसे पहले यहाँ छपी है – The complete track listing and credits and an option to buy can be found […]
‘Ik bagal’ ! Wah Wah !
Either u people are nuts or i am nuts.this music is a headache…pathetic….juvenile and lacking in aesthetic merit in a very very pronounced way.just listen once to the music of black friday composed by indian ocean and then listen to these songs of GOW…and then…if u are honest to ur musical sensibilities….u will understand the difference.the music made by indian ocean is what real music is….it is subversive,experimental,strange…but has the grace and stamp of genius.whereas the music of sneha…is nothing more than nautanki….left me with a headache.
We all know Ak’s music are highly context driven,but music should sound like music!.The “Tai Tai” song(people are going gaga about) sung by Sneha……..which is just music and some incomprehensible words is not so novel after all…most of the songs of Black Friday are infact incomprehensible words set to music…….but the difference lies in the effect they create.The way Indian ocean has done it(like the chase song in Black Friday)…has an inner musical rhythm to it….whereas the Sneha song is repulsive cacophony.Pls guys be honest…and call a spade…a fucking spade.
@sumit singh
I don’t agree with u.pls have the balls to face the new faces of music.and cacophany may quite possibly be an aspect of it.havnt u ever heard flawful singing,desperation to express so badly that only gibberish may come out..are people around u perfect 10,plastic characters that u can’t digest a poor man singing on a flawful but passionate bulbultarang?there are many flashes of interiors of a state in this music that u hv ignored for quite some time,given the musical philosophies u r borrowing from a few successful names that u love to drop.for all u know,they must be listening to it with pleasure.
for me, the music is fine.thru this somebody is reflecting a reality that I must see especially in relation with the film.rest is up to ur ears,cant do much about that.
No Need to get Indian Ocean to the discussion every time. Am not saying this to you my friend but to so many others who have this idea of music caged within the realms of Indian Ocean-sque music. They are God Awesome. Period.
Incomprehensible words…Hmmmm…May be you write there. Nothing to be ashamed on if you don’t get the words. It’s OK.
Good that you made your point. That’s just about it.
Incomprehensible words…Hmmmm…May be you write there. Nothing to be ashamed on if you don’t get the words. It’s OK……
.kindly translate the tai tai song sung by sneha into english for me please.maybe my ears were not sharp enough to catch comprehensible words amidst all the tai tai going on…waiting for ur english translation
Oh My God! That’s the problem? I am extremely sorry! Gave you much more attention than you deserved. My apologies
Heard of ‘dol dol’ (from Yuva)?
Heard of ramyya kero kero mama (Arjun)?
Heard of dhalala booga? (Yuva)?
These are just some examples but am sure you won’t buy them.
Take care.
That would be ‘Mamaiya Kero Kero Kero Mama’ and ‘Dhaka Laga Booga’.
Mention not.
Over excitement, fat fingers and One iPad is all it takes tejas. Thanks a lot for for correcting me 🙂 cheers!
i think u forgot ‘jhinga lala hum’…hum bewafa hargix na the-kishore kumar
Replying to a quite old post, nevertheless
as far as ‘calling a spade, a spade’ is concerned…
The song is good & brilliant effort put in, with beautifull output.
& since you don’t have the right set of ears, you are the SPADE.
can any one explain to me the meaning of “ik bagal mein” song? a lot of u r saying it is a great song…but it makes no sense.maybe its a new form of art,to celebrate the essential nonsense or meaninglessness which lies behind the artifice of meaning.if looked at it that way..sure mishra ji is avant garde…look at the lyrics:
Ik bagal mein chaand hoga ik bagal mein rotiyan
Ik bagal mein neend hogi ik bagal mein loriyaan
Hum chaand pe roti ki chaadar daal kar so jayenge
Aur neend se
Aur neend se keh denge lori kal sunaane aayenge………what the fuck is he trying to say? if you interchange the nouns..rooiyan…chaand…looriya…it will make no difference…the soung will remain as senseless as it is.I have read the complex poetry of ghalib,meer,zauk,momin,faiz,iqbal….which talk about deep philosophical and spiritual issues…but they do the courtesy of at least making sense,no matter how cryptic the sense is.piyush mishra has a unique ability to sing with profound intensity…lyrics which are absolutely meaningless.
his songs are so delusional…like a man stoned on grass…talking with himself..and deluding that what he is talking is great literature..and he is unveiling the mysteries of the world.
other than cheap….laboured ..black humourous one liners…like…..
Aur siskiyon ko…. gudgudi kar kar ke yoon behlayenge…or…..Hum maut ko sapna bata kar uth khade honge yahin….there is no sense or soul in this song.
any one can write these contradictory phrases…like…main pyaas pee gaya aur bhookh kha gaya…..sounds bright…but is shallow…and certainly not poetic…..
piyush mishra …as far as his lyrics are concerned is a big hoax….and i am sure no one is able to understand what exactly his song as a whole r trying to convey….including piyush mishra himself…
Looks like you really hated the whole album.Just one question,why have you been listening to it for the last 12 hours ? Just to find faults with every song ?
‘sare din sadako pe khali riksha sa, peeche peeche chalata hai’ ye gulzaar ki line hai. agar aap is ‘fuck’ ko samjh gaye honge to piyush mishra to shishu hai gullu saab ke aage
Pranaam karta hu sir. Dimag laal ho haya awesome comment parh ke 🙂
bhojpuri blogger…..the above line u mentioned is said by a girl..who is in a mock desperate tone admonishing the boy for pestering her.khaali rickshaw is a clear symbol for the jobless boy….who has nothing to do but ..like a jobless person(khali rickshaw)run after her…the implication on the lyrics is clr.
theek hai ab koi samjha to dijiye kya matlab hain iin line-o ka. Yeh koi mathematics thode hi hai, k level 3 aa gaya to level 1 bhi samaj aa gaya!! gulzar ki baatein karte hain o_O. kabhi kabhi gulzar bhi samaj mein nahi aate lekin yeh wala to bilkul hi nahi aaya…
anyone?
@desipsycho…in the false hope of finding something redeeming in them!
My pick – Humnike chhodike. Been listening to it endlessly. And when not listening humming it. Would like to know about the context of the song, its background and the meaning of the lyrics, not as placed in the film but in the folk environment. Origins, when is it sung, what meaning / importance it has in ppl’s lives and so on. Anyone?
And rohit, kick-ass review!
A ‘devi maa’ bhajan it is. Am also trying to dig more about it. 🙂
Got the translation courtesy our Daily Tamasha. Me digging more too.
i don’t think so. I listen other song from pawan singh, kallu but those are totally different both in music and emotion 😦
Have been listening on the loop and trying to find the most outstanding work of this album for me. Finally, for now it has to be ‘Bhoos’. Starts with strings(which reminded me of Gustavo Santaolla) and then morphs into a rocking Bhojpuri folk and then brass bands…dogs barking…power in the voices!!!
I would like to know what these guys were smoking when recording these songs!
Kaun karta hai yeh sab yaar!
my wife is bengali has almost no sense of bhojpuri and believe me vo bhi isako humming karna shuru kar di hai :)..my favo also
no words for music of GOW. “Ek Bagal” creates shivering……
[…] to Varun Grover, here are the lyrics of the song ‘Womaniya’ (from the music of the film – Gangs Of […]
fultoo fatak album ….
Music is catching on my nerves ….
Ik Bagal reminds me of Gulal’s track ( thanx to Piyush Mishra)
KUdos to Sneha nd Varun Grover ….
A lovely review …..
poora ka poora paisan vasool ….
movie bhi baqaiti se bharpoor hogi
[…] Arguably the only song this year that touches the soul. A folk bhojpuri song that is sung by Deepak (a 14 year old boy) from Muzaffapur. The song features in Gangs Of Wasseypur. […]
‘Humni ki chhoree ke’ is a genuine folk song! The way it has been sung and the Sarang (north bihar) influence makes the song much more admirable. This song stands apart from all other songs in the album.
Ok
‘Bhoos ke dher mein’has decent music. However, again the lyrics of this song is a Khichdi. Deosn’t have any Bihari essence. Could have been ‘the song’ if the lyrics would have been better.
shekar ji mujhe aapse kuch baat karni hai aapki koi ID wagaihrah miegi kya ?????
[…] Time for the another song lyrics and and it’s meaning from the album Gangs of Wasseypur…This one, as a little birdie tells me, is a personal favorite of the pen magician (Varun […]
awesome soundtrack.as a resident doctor living in benares hating every moment of it listening to all these songs make me realize that like music of gow the eastern up is slowly growing on me.
O womaiya soundtrack reminds me of my village folk songs. m so in love with this song. great job Mr. Grover!!!!
[…] wrote on GoW-1 music too, here. And a recent post on GoW-2 lyrics by Varun Grover, […]